Farmer fails in final eviction hearing

A FAMILY’S long and bitter battle for an historic farmhouse appeared to be over last night after a High Court decision went against them and the Welsh historic monuments organisation decided to take no action.

Farmer Billy Buckler and his wife, Branwen, had been hoping to hang on to the reputedly 800-year-old Great House Farm at Llandough and its prime 10-acre estate overlooking Cardiff Bay so that the question of ownership could be decided by the European Court.

[Destroying] But after a hearing in chambers a judge at Cardiff Crown Court dismissed an application by Mr and Mrs Buckler for an injunction to restrain BP Properties Ltd, the owners of the land, from destroying or damaging the fabric of the building.

Their solicitor, Mr Colin Jongman, said after the hearing, “There are no more steps that can be taken now that the building can be knocked down.” He added that if the building was knocked down, there was little point seeking a declaration from the European Court that they could occupy the building.

The couple then had their hopes dashed of help from Cadw. A spokesperson there told the Western Mail the house was not of sufficient architectural merit and the land on which it stands was not of sufficient archaeological interest.

Following the court hearing, Mrs Janet Harris, Mr Buckler’s sister, said the house had been in the family for four generations. “It is reputed to be 800 years old and yet it seems they can destroy it on what is a whim.” She forecast that “they will have it down as fast as they can now” and said their only hope was that Cadw would accept it as a listed building.

Judge Norman Francis giving his judgment in open court said that after the Buckleys’s unsuccessfully sought leave to appeal to the House of Lords against an Appeal Committee ruling they had exhausted the remedies available to them under the laws of England and Wales. Their case was that there was a triable issue for the Court of Human Rights to consider and that the status quo as to the building and fittings should be preserved until it had been decided.

[Relief] The judge said there seemed doubt whether the plaintiffs had acted in time for the European Commission to consider the case. The fact that somebody chooses at the eleventh hour to apply to the Commission could not set up a right to “injunctive relief”. It would be novel for a court in this country to grant an injunction to hold up the effects of a judgment until the Court of Human Rights should rule on it, said the judge.

The battle for the farmhouse and estate has been waged for 33 years by the Buckler family.